With this week’s Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Sunday, 2:20 p.m. ET on NBC, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) marking the last race before a two-week sporting layoff during the Summer Olympics, most of the NASCAR Cup Series competitors can now fully concede, it is officially “go time” to secure one of the 16 Playoff positions.
It certainly felt like that over the weekend at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway when reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney earned his second win of the year and the already-tight Playoff standings took another intriguing twist.
The competition for the Regular Season Championship – currently more of a duel between Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson – has been intense. Elliott took the lead this weekend and only three-points separate the two former champions.
Blaney’s win Sunday was significant at the top of the Playoff standings as well – making him one of five drivers with multiple wins on the season – a victory away from tying Elliott, Larson, Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell in trophies.
There have been four new race winners guaranteeing their title opportunity in just the last seven weeks. And the vying for a “Playoff safe” points position among those still without a victory has reached a new urgency in that competitive vibe – particularly for those close to that 16th place cutoff line.
Fan favorites and past championship challengers such as Chris Buescher, Ross Chastain and Bubba Wallace are tightly contesting that final transfer position. Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, who is ranked 19th in the Playoff-adjusted points standings, is hoping Indianapolis will finally be a dose of well-timed success too.
Chastain crashed his No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet at Pocono while Wallace finished 10th in the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota – the bad luck-good luck day significantly cut the margin between Chastain in 16th place and Wallace in 17th place in the Playoff outlook standings to only 27 points. Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Chris Buescher, in 15th, holds a 44-point edge on Wallace.
“It’s about points, so we didn’t capitalize [much] on points, but the 1 (Chastain) had a bad day, the 54 (Ty Gibbs) had a bad day so it was a nice rebound,” Wallace said. “Usually, it’s the opposite. We start really good and end up fading and giving up a lot of track position. Here, we were able to call a good strategy and hang on.”
The 39-year-old Kyle Busch is mired in an uncharacteristic slump with five finishes of 32nd or worse in the last seven races – including Sunday at Pocono when his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet was running well, but was collected in a crash. By this time last season – his first in the RCR Chevrolet – he had three victories before teams even arrived in Indianapolis.
Past success should give Busch reason to be optimistic this week. The series is celebrating the race’s 30th anniversary by moving from the road course back to the iconic 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval – a venue Busch has had headline-grabbing showings; including three pole positions and two victories (2015-16).
“We’re having the opportunity to go out there and have some fun and to continue to work on our program and build everything up,” said Busch, who trails 16th place Chastain by 102 points. “It’s just unfortunate circumstances. Thank you to Rowdy Nation and all the fans for their continued support. We’ll go back to work and get ready for Indianapolis.”
There is a Friday practice at 2:35 p.m. ET (NBC Sports App) for the series allowing extra laps for drivers to get acquainted with the oval. Busch Light Pole Qualifying is Saturday at 1:05 p.m. ET (USA Network, NBC Sports App, IMS Radio Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) and the Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG green flag is slated for 2:30 p.m. ET.
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